From Digitalscream & TTony

DiscoStu

This community is fantastic. I'm on here every day whether I post or not,  it's become a way of life.
If it's affecting your lives then I totally understand you needing to step away,  nobody needs stress from strangers and there is no doubt a fair amount of that on here but The Fretboard is by far the best forum I've been on. 
Good luck chaps and come back soon. 

Kebabkid

Thank you guys for all that you've done, achieved and will continue to do behind the scenes.

Would it be worth comparing notes with the mods at Basschat? They're a nice bunch and their forum seems to run well, as does this place from our side of the fence, and I know one or two of them. I'm sure they've encountered some of these types of issues.

Re: their Classifieds, you have to pay to sell/advertise and it's either a pay-as-you-go per item or a flat annual fee to sell multiple times (? £20).

As a point of interest, do you guys have any idea how many hours a week you dedicate to the forum (outside of your normal viewing and participation)? It might be good for people to see how much work actually goes into this place and how that takes you away from other things, like work, family, other hobbies etc
All the best

sticker

Sorry to read this but totally understand, thanks for all you’ve done and hope you can find the energy and enthusiasm to return . 

We’re going to miss you. 

smigeon

Just want to add my vote of thanks to the two of you for the work you have put in here. I'm not any sort of contributor (just the occasional one-line comment), but have gained a lot of pleasure and knowledge from this place and really enjoy checking in most days to see what's going on. 

You are most appreciated, and I can totally understand why you feel the need to step away from all the crap that goes on. 

Hope you enjoy the time that will be freed up in your lives and also hope that you'll be back at some point.

VimFuego

we all need a break from time to time, being admins means this is not easy to do, so thanks for setting this place up (and sporkers, and emp for his temp forum) when MR turned off the lights. Have a break, come back when you're ready, I'm guessing this place'll still be here. 

redrighthand

Sad news chaps. Thanks both for what you’ve created here and all the work you’ve put in - and I hope you return.

guitarfishbay

All the best, take a break.  Thanks for all the time and effort put in to running the site.

Snags

Very sad news, but I can totally understand it from other areas of my own life. If the accumulation of aggro has reached the point where it blots out all of the good and sucks the life out of you, it's the right call, even when the underpinning thing is still good and vital.

Sincerely hope this is a sabbatical, not an ending.

Jimbro66

I'm really sorry to hear this @TTony and @Digitalscream. You've created something very special with this forum. It's clear that you are getting far more than a fare share of the negatives whereas for most of us the positives far outweigh them. We're not on the front line.

A lot of the crap that we can see seems to be coming from the classifieds, particularly from freeloaders who resent following a few simple rules. Somehow this needs to be addressed if @Roland and @Jalapeno are not soon to feel as disillusioned as you are.

Yes there have been a few personal vendettas on here (as there can be in society generally) and also a few who seem unable to respect the differing opinions of others, BUT overall this is a great place to hang out - and unique. Don't underestimate what you have achieved.

Huge thanks to you both and enjoy your break. After a while call in as members and see just how good it mostly looks when you are not saddled with chores.

Thanks also to @Roland and @Jalapeno for agreeing to continue. I'm sure they'll get whatever support they might need. No-one wants to lose this place.

MtB

Sad to read this. I hope that after some time off-duty you'll come back (with a much bigger banning hammer!)- hopefully to a more "chilled" forum. you'll certainly be welcomed with open arms.    

Nitefly

Sad news, which I'm really sorry to read - thank you both very much for all your efforts.

Come back soon, and don't forget to send us a postcard...

BigBearKris

Sad news. There's been signs of this for a while now, at least from Lee.

Thanks for all your hard work and apart from all the misery it brought upon you rest assured that it is BY FAR the best forum I've been on, and I've been on few. Like every big community- there will be an occasional arsehole or two... shame that it made such an impact but it's a great forum regardless. 

Much appreciated guys! Godspeed. 

thumpingrug

Im so sorry to read this.  I love this place that you have built and perhaps because of the areas I venture I dont see a huge amount of the problems that you describe.  I do however fully understand that a small minority of users that dont follow basic rules or adhere to the core principles cause hugely disproportionate issues for moderators and admins.


Other forums I dip in and out of have multiple moderators that look after specific sections.  Have you considers a recruitment campaign to help share the burden a bit? 

Thank you for all you have done.   Take a break, several weeks if need be and then come back and see if you still feel the same, hopefully some time away will reenergise you both.

Take care chaps.

Travisthedog

Time to end your shifts guys and theyve been long ones. Thanks for all you have done and achieved 

Very sad that the actions of a few have such an affect on the many.

J

sweepy

A huge thanks for all your hard work and time devoted to the Forum, maybe a break will recharge the old batteries

Winny_Pooh

Kebabkid said:

Thank you guys for all that you've done, achieved and will continue to do behind the scenes.

Would it be worth comparing notes with the mods at Basschat? They're a nice bunch and their forum seems to run well, as does this place from our side of the fence, and I know one or two of them. I'm sure they've encountered some of these types of issues.

Re: their Classifieds, you have to pay to sell/advertise and it's either a pay-as-you-go per item or a flat annual fee to sell multiple times (? £20).

As a point of interest, do you guys have any idea how many hours a week you dedicate to he forum (outside of your normal viewing and participation)? It might be good for people to see how much work actually goes into this place ad how that takes you away from other things, like work, family, other hobbies etc
All the best

Yep, put in a fee for the classifieds. £0 for parts, £5 for a one off in other sections and £20 for a year.

Gearslutz have a subforum called the Moan Zone. I suggest a similar one where ebay/manufacturer/rant/buyers remorse threads can go and like BCD be removed from google searches (like the nitro Gibson case thread & "strange selling practices") if there are legal threats that regularly result. Threads moved here then also make people aware of just how much bitching they do without realising and less tendency to open a thread there. 

57Deluxe

...Oh - I thought I was the only one getting fed up with the off-topic bickerings! Still, guitars need discussing so sticking it out and that's that!

Fortheloveofguitar

I could see this coming  

I rarely come on here these days, the last year or so in fact 

Went from being great community after MR closed however there’s way too many freeloading, shit stirring wankers. It’s become overun with them

It really does become harder to police and I certainly wouldn’t want to have to put up with it and constantly banging your head against a brick wall

People are cunts........Shame

Moominpapa

Many thanks for all your hard work in the past; I really hope you both see your way to coming back. I realise it has been a pain in the arse for you, but in the time I've been here I have always enjoyed hearing in my head the sound of TTony's big boots clomping down the corridor as he arrives to give some miscreant poster a good sorting out.

Strat_a_tat_tat

Massive thanks for setting this place up. I'm on here every day... and I've learnt a lot from so many different contributors (not just about guitars and amps... but about life and heavy stuff too).

Really sad that the general level of bad behaviour - from a quite few members - has ground you guys down. I'm amazed that you've put up with so much for so long. You both have the patience of saints. I know I wouldn't have been able to cope with the arrogant sense of self-entitlement that some members appear to display (including all those that just treat the place as a cheap way to sell stuff... but never take an active role in helping and advising other members on anything... and then have the arrogance to: 1. Not bother reading the very simple and fair rules (because... those members are special... so normal rules obviously don't apply to them and they have license to do whatever they like. Snowflakes!!!.... and 2. When politely asked to comply with a few sensible requirements - start ranting & raving and hurling insults. How some members fail to realise that this site is not their personal property.... and totally fail to show any respect.... is beyond me.)

Please know that what you've done in setting this place up is really valued by a huge number of people. Thanks.